Prolific Estonian producer Thing brings his wares to Repertoire for today’s premiere! Blessed Love channels old school jungle into Thing’s talent for sonic experimentation, melting down crisp breaks, bassline modulations and weird FX hits into a joyously chaotic composition with tons of character. Look out for the EP coming Nov 2nd at the Repertoire Bandcamp!
A disclaimer; we’re not generally big fans of the compilation LP here at Dojo HQ. While the format has its strengths, it can be difficult to form a coherent narrative on a compilation, and the larger ones often feel too big to digest sensibly, allowing great tunes to get lost in the wash. When they’re done well however they can be a powerful statement of intent; enter new imprint Black Crane’s debut release, Initial Breeding.
Fans of the deeper end of D&B will only have to glance at the artists involved to get an impression of the kind of label movement Black Crane is; beats are provided by Thing, Dominic Ridgway, DYL, Mark Kloud under his ‘Yushan’ alias and a host of lesser known producers, so as you’d expect this is an exploration of the more experimental and less club focused end of the 170 sound.
The danger with a compilation of this ilk is that it might easily become a morass of third-rate Samurai Music wannabe tracks that blend into each other in a “12 tracks of industrial halftime with not much character” sort of fashion. Thankfully Initial Breeding avoids this scenario via three key elements; breadth, quality and sequencing. The breadth aspect is truly impressive, taking in everything from the more obvious gritty halftime of Yushan’s Hitchhike and Cuelock’s Grey Crowned, through the IDM-tinged melodies of Snik’s Anxiety, dubby business from Thing, autonomic-inspired ambient explorations from Eusebeia and future jungle from Dominic Ridgway. The material is all left of field but the diversity is more than sufficient to avoid the sameness of your average VA compilation.
The quality of the tracks on show is really impressive too; from percussive precision to abstract sound design to just sheer rhythmic joy, all the producers have knocked it out of the park. Last but by no means least, the sequencing from Istota and the label crew is perfect, taking the listener on a journey that gives the album poise and glues the tracks together. This trifecta of excellence puts this LP in that rarest of categories; a truly enjoyable compilation rather than just a bag of vaguely linked tracks. Check out the previews below and hit up the label’s Bandcamp to grab a copy now.
Thing is a busy man. Between dropping tracks for the likes of Doc Scott’s 31 Records and Blu Mar Ten Music the Estonian producer releases a phenomenal quantity of music via his own Dubthing and Depthwise labels.
Thing has been kind enough to take time out of the studio to record our latest exclusive mix, and it’s quite a sonic journey. Starting out with experimental cuts from the likes of Moresounds, Survey and Sam KDC, taking in his brand new inSpace/Crickets single and finishing up with classic techstep from Lemon D and Dillinja, this is a perfectly crafted mix from a serious selector.
As usual you can check out the mix via Soundcloud below or head to Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Dropbox. Don’t forget to check out Thing’s new single and his recent Collected Works compilation too!
J. Nomad & Crypticz – Downfall
Ahmad and Konfront Audio – No Escape
Moresounds – Etho
LX ONE – So Gully
Survey – Untitled
Sam KDC & The Untouchables – Alliance
Was a be – Carcosa
Ghost Warrior – Intruders
DAAT – Meat Grinder (Justice & Metro Re-Grind)
Monic – Habits (Monic Version)
DAAT – Fridge (Overlook Remix)
Ahmad – Dissident
Thing – Inspace
Thing – Crickets
Sonis – Killah Sound
Om Unit – Spiritwerk
Dj MADD – Brooklyb Rudeboy
Theory – I Saw You Girl
Mako – Let the truth be heard
Klute – Just What You’re Feeling
Overlook – Distant blues
Photek – Consciousness
Ed Rush & Nico – The Force is Electric
Lemon D – This is LA
Dillinja – The Angels Fell
The relaunch of Doc Scott’s 31 Recordings imprint has been the cause for much celebration across the scene, and the label’s output has been absolutely stellar. Rounding off 2014 in style, they’ve unveiled a massive 24 track compilation featuring artists from across the D&B spectrum, and frankly pretty much all of it is excellent.
The huge selection takes in half-time beats from Sinistarr and Ital Tek, future jungle from Moresounds, liquid rollers from Bungle and Calibre, rowdy techstep from SCAR and plenty more besides. Special mentions have to go out to the broody, militant syncopations of House of Lanterns’ Take Control, the ethereal atmospherics of Hidden Turn’s Dream of Tron and the bleepy, atmospheric vibes of Gremlinz Forlorn, but honestly the whole LP is of such a high standard that picking favourites is pretty tough. Check out clips of all the tracks below and head over to the 31 Recordings store to preorder the compilation on vinyl or digital now – the release drops on December 15th.
Following hot on the heels of his excellent release for Blu Mar Ten Music, Thing has put together an hour long mix featuring some great cuts from the deep, dark end of the D&B spectrum. Including tracks from his own catalogue alongside selections from Stray, Clarity, Mtwn, Skeptical and Ruffhouse, it doesn’t get much grittier than this. Brooding halfstep lovers should definitely give this a listen.
Blu Mar Ten continue their excellent run of releases from leftfield artists with a pair of deep, dark, steppers from Estonian producer Thing. Renew blends the percussive intricacies of Bop and his ilk with the insistent kicks and snares of Amit’s best work, adding in low sub and tribal echoes for some serious atmosphere.
Outer Lands continues the journey with a throbbing sub line and a shuffling, echo-imbued beat while haunting robotic vocal cuts fade in and out of the sinister pads and synths; once again this is a tune just dripping with tension and cinematic quality. Look out for these dropping on vinyl and digital on June 3rd.